Will I find my place?

NurseKatie08, MSN · Aug 16, 2008

Hi ladies & gents! I am new to all of this and I am still far from my RN, however, I have a couple of questions for the nurses who have been there and can possibly help..... Here goes...
I am having a hard time (again, I am very new) figuring out where exactly I would end up flourishing and loving it. Is this something you'll learn while going through clinicals? Through education? Do I have to sort of test it all out and see where I am a good fit?
I understand everyones day to day is very different and I am sure every day is very different but can anyone give me a little glimpse into what I can expect to be taking care of everyday? (If you can give me your specialty and let me know what you do - that would be SOOOO helpful)
And - Is there anything you absolutely HATE doing? What about love doing?
Thank you all to reply - I am just curious about what is ahead of me. This site has been immensely helpful with some of the issues I think may lay ahead of me.
I'm so excited to finally go for what I've been wanting to do for so long. I'm 30 and have been sort of wandering for some time and I finally have the support I need to go forward. THANK YOU AGAIN! :redbeathe

I believe that your specialty will just hit you one day. Some people find out through clinicals, some through on the job experience. While now, as a new grad, I think that I know what to do, I'm open to that changing, especially with a lack of job offers on the horizon due to a major nursing glut in my area.

For me, several clinicals struck me. I had an amazing experience in peds, and know from that experience that I want to work with kids in some capacity. I was fairly certain of that before nursing school, but it all was confirmed the moment my seven year old pt gave me a giant hug on the day of my evals and said "I hope you get an A. I think you're a great nurse!!" & later found out that her mom sought out my instructor to tell her how great she & her daughter thought I was doing.

I also had an awesome experience in critical care, which is leaning me towards combining the two...I can really see myself in PICU or NICU down the line. I also enjoyed the autonomy and education component of my community health rotation.

However though, I may not be tons of help...because there wasn't much of anything in my clinical rotations that I didn't love. I found that the best way to go through clinicals was with an open mind, and that's how I'm going through the job search. I'm not limiting jobs I apply for to my expressed area of interest, and am open to working in areas I didn't previously consider due to the glut in my area.

The best advice I can offer, is that your :heartbeat will know where it belongs when the time comes.

Good luck!! :nurse:

loriangel14, RN · Aug 16, 2008

I think you have to decide what is important to YOU as a nurse, what fits your personality. I have been on the job a year and I LOVE my job.Some gals I went to school with are working in the ER and areas with high acuity and are rushed off their feet ,they thrive on the adrenalin. I work in a complex continuing care hospital that is merged with an acute care full service hospital in the next town. We get a mixed bag including physical rehab, palliative pts, some stable medical pts and we act as a holding facility for elderly pts waiting for placement in nursing homes. Fairly low acuity stuff and some would be bored stiff. But I love it. Physical rehab is great, I love seeing people get better and go home. We have a fairly easy load most days and I have time to talk to my pts, listen to their concerns, and take my time giving good care. When a pt is dying I can sit with the family and be there

to make sure my pt is comfortable.

Oh, and I work with a bunch of terrific supportive nurses.

Keep and open mind and you will be suprised at what feels right. I did a placement during school in a large mental health facility and I was not thrilled at first but I ended up loving it.

Pediatric4077 · Aug 16, 2008

I'm only a year in as an RN but I'll tell you this: What you like in clinical and what you like in the real world might really surprise you! I hated wound care in clinical and it is so funny how excited I am when I get some new interesting wound to do treatments on now, I love it!

As far as the "everyday" most days for me are all different. I work in a long term pediatric respiratory unit, but we have a mixed bag of patients anywhere from 0-26. I can go from racing around with a 15 month old being bagged at 20liters with an o2 sat of 50, to sitting with a one year old trying to get him to keep his glasses on. I thrive on project type stuff where I get to see results throughout days or weeks. (I think that is my attraction to wound care).

Just my two cents!!

robinbird · Aug 16, 2008

I always thought I wanted to work in mother-baby or pediatrics. I had three kids and breastfed them all successfully and even taught other new mom to breastfeed in La Leche League. When I had those clinicals in nursing school, I realized it wasn't wasn't what I wanted to do.

I was in my final year of nursing school and nothing appealed to me. I started to lose hope that I'd find anything I liked. During my last semester of school we were learning about the heart and EKG's. It just so happened that my clinical was on a cardiology floor at the same time. I discovered that I loved the heart. I loved EKG's, heart sounds, the relationship between electricity and the "plumbing" as the blood flows through the heat. I found it fascinating the way meds effect the heart and the blood vessles and how the function of all the other organs effect the heart. Cardiology fed my need for critical thinking, technology and nursing. I finally found wanted I wanted do.

My advice is to keep an open mind. You might find your passion is something that you least expect.

Robin:redbeathe

husker_rn, RN · Aug 16, 2008

I agree with nursekatie. I loved psych and surgery; worked rural hospital and then LTC for years. When you find your niche you'll know it and don't worry so much about knowing where that is right away. Many of us were late-bloomers finding our way.